Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-03-20
THE RICHMOND DISPATCH---SUNDAY MARCH 20 1887

ble in appearance, Mr.. DAVIS say iesn
inc back in his armchair, his thin wnise
hands clasped over his knee anu ~
conversing with gentle interest," WIZ"
his guests. With what o courtly ges'
ture he turned TO me as he spoke, now
pretty was the way he stopped TO KISS
Flo / Shall / ever forget the picture
he made, leaning back in his Dig
chair. in that quaint and beauti,
ful old room He looked all nc nao
been and all he is-the soldier, tne
statesman, the scholar, and the gentle.
man of the old school. BY his SIDE sat
his wife-a gracious, genial, white
haired woman, large-statured, large
minded, large-hearted, and no less as
MISUNDERSTANDING than her husband
n woman born to O commanding posi-.
ton and one certain to WELD a great
and good influence. Mrs. Davis IS
deepiy-learned woman all the culture,
polish, and brilliancy Of her time II ex-
pressed in her thoughts and speech.
10 her almost more than to any other
woman in the South may be APP
Piled that fine, old-fashioned compll,,
ment, "to know her il a liberal
education. There, in this charm
ing old house, hidden under the
pine trees, its faded face looking out
TO sea, this husband and this wife are
spending the last half of their lives.
What books they could write il they
would. What rich "reminiscences are
theirs of the Old World and the New,
of the great and distinguished men and
women of both hemispheres. But
they do not write books. They simply
live a happy and peaceful life in the
"Beauyoir house." entertaining many
friends, reading much, doing all the
good that comes their way their
home a place were hospitality might
have had its birth their lives full OF
beautiful cares and work.
And after q time the young daughter
OF the house led us ont into the sunny,
old-fashioned garden, trailing off forest
ward under the oaks. 1t was like the
gardens we read about, with its odd lit
tie fiower-beds and long, wandering
walks, all set with mignonette. The
winds that stirred the flowers was full
of cinnamon odors and sweet with the
breath of the questionable damask
roses that grew in the far corners.
The tall, slim young lady in a dove
gray gown, her gentle, serious, yet
happy face shaded by a broad brimmed
hat, went down the dewy walks with
Flo and they talked together as Twenty
Two does not often condescend to talk
to Ten, and as they walked she shipped
a bit here and a sprig there, fashioning
a posy for her small guest. How
charming she looked bending over the
bushes of blue-eyed periwinklesl |
wonder could she have been more
charming, even when she went North
and captured it? A girlwho can enter
tain roomful Of learned men, who is
brilliant and thorough, bending her
pretty brown head down to the level of
the yellow one of the little child, and
entertaining and charming her small
visitor with the same grace and tact,
was a pretty spectacle, fit companion
piece to the picture of the quaint book
and picture-Ened drawing-room, with
it's silver-haired host and hostess. How
slim and graceful and bonny she looked
as
"With lightsome heart she pulled a rose,
Full sweet upon it, thOrny tree
Somehow the flowers were like the
gentle eirl-giver theS were the flowers
that one loves to write of, to think on,
to remember, and to treasure. There
was bit of lavender, with its spiky
leaves, rosemary more sweet than the
breath of the incense that remains for
ever about the affairs in old and long
used Catholic churches, bit of yellow
blOssomed rue, and some sweet-smell-
ing, magenta colored pinks. They were
the flowers Of nature, not those forced
in Conservatives. In her manners and
simple, unaffected gentleness and kind
ness, this young lady is as old-fashioned
as her flowers. it is easy to understand
her charm, when it is also remembered
that her mind has been most carefully
trained, that all the advantages of for
eign travel and education have been
hers.
l know how wise she is, how many
are her accomplishments, and, withal,
how unaffected and honest and loyal
she is. am minded to say, too, that,
in my opinion, If she and that other
fair and brilliant Young lady whose
home is in the White House had been
allowed to meet, as both probably
wished to, they would have flown into
each others arms, and neither would
have remembered that one was born
north and the other south Of Mason IL
Dixon's line.
am proud to think how our bonny,
brilliant southern girl went North and
captured it. | like to recall how pref
tily she was received, with q hospitality
that could not be excelled even at Beau
voir. can think of her doing well,
and acting wisely and honorably and
nobly, and with heart loyal to her
home, her people, and her country in
all places and at all times. l like to
think of her in her tulle party dresses,
or being led out to dinner by some great
man whom it is an honor to know But,
somehow, | love best to think of her
standing in her gray gown, knee deep
among her roses, gathering a nosegay
of lavender and rue and rosemary in the
sunny, sweet-scented garden that trails
off with many tangle of vine and
bramble under the trees at the back OF
Boauvoir house.